Bloomberg Q&A

I received this inquiry from an investment advisor today:

Hi…I see that Bloomberg acquired Eagle Eye… Why wouldn’t Bloomberg just buy Onvia if they really wanted to be in this space? Any thoughts? Thanks.

And here is my answer:

I have several blog posts on this here http://blog.federaldirect.net/
but to answer your question-

1) we don't know yet what Bloomberg's focus is - are they going after Congressional Quarterly, the Hill & National Journal? Are they targeting contract info like Input, Fed Sources & Onvia? Are they going to use the contract data to advise investors? All of the above? Something else? Is this an invasion or an incursion?

2) My guess is they didn't but Onvia because it is publicly traded and would not be cheap. Eagle Eye was truly the low cost point of entry. It came with a solid data repository, but it did not come with much of a customer base.

3) We will be able to discern more after we see what they buy next!

Stay tuned - and thnx for asking.

Best
Mark

The follow up message read:

Thanks…I would think 100MM would be drop in the bucket for Bloomberg….

And my answer-

No argument from me, but it depends on their strategy and how much they think they can gain on the strength of their name. Judging from the press releases, they think the name Bloomberg will big equity in DC.

They are wrong.